Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis scolded a reporter Thursday for asking whether it was appropriate for President-elect Donald Trump to be critical of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of the raging Los Angeles wildfires.
DeSantis, flanked by several GOP governors at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, looked visibly irritated by the question.
“Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives any time these things happen?” shot back the Sunshine State governor, who was standing several feet from the microphones.
“Now, you’re not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D[emocrat],” DeSantis charged. “If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would go try … you would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there.”
The Florida governor, who had just finished dining with Trump and his GOP colleagues, noted that he faced criticism from the media following the 2021 collapse of a condominium in Surfside, Fla., which he argued was unfair.
“We just assume in Florida, anytime something happens, it’s going to be politicized by the media,” DeSantis said. “So you guys sitting in judgment of Donald Trump, I mean, excuse me, I think your track record of politicizing these things is very, very bad.”
The governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate also argued that Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ trip to Ghana while the fires broke out would be getting more scrutiny if she were a Republican.
“If that were a Republican mayor – I can only imagine what that would do,” DeSantis said. “I mean, you know the fires are at high risk and you try to go to Africa, or wherever she was, to go on some type of voyage?”
“You should have been there preparing … And yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed [toward Bass].”
DeSantis concluded by urging “more balance” in the way the media has covered the LA wildfires.
“You can criticize the president-elect, but you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I have not seen that,” he argued.
At least 10 people have been killed by the wildfires since they broke out on Tuesday, torching more than 35,000 acres and destroying thousands of structures.
